Twice Bitten
by That Girl55
Summary: Winnie's fiery cousin Willow's parents have died, and she's been ignored by the Fosters since she moved in, all except for Winnie. When Winnie's parents threaten to send her away, Willow runs off with her, determined not to lose the only good thing she has left. While staying with the Tucks, though, she finds a new kind of happiness in the form of Miles. MilesXOC WinnieXJesse
1. Chapter 1

Willow is Winnie's cousin, her parents died last year and she was sent to live with the Fosters. This takes place when Winnie is fifteen and Willow is seventeen, and is probably more likely to follow the movie than the book, as that's what I remember better.

For Willow's clothes imagine her in anything from Free People, specifically the Aurore eyelet dress, the lace apron maxi, and the valley dress. her style is similar to Winnie's but she's much more liberal and doesn't care about her reputation.

Willow's faceclaim: Sarah Hyland

Disclaimer: I do not own Tuck Everlasting or any of the characters you recognize. The lines from the movie/book belong to their lawful owner.

* * *

"Winnie, wait up dammit!" Willow shouted, running through the brambles after her cousin. She had her dress hiked up, and that helped some, but her long dark hair was still getting tangled in the tree branches.

Winnie continued to run, oblivious to her cousin's yelling. Winnie's boots were obviously more suited to running through the woods, while Willow's flats weren't quite doing the job.

Finally, Willow caught up to her cousin, gasping for breath.

"They never would have sent you away, you know." Willow said, squeezing Winnie's arm. "I wouldn't have let them separate us."

Even though Winnie knew this was true, she still started crying, fat tears squeezing out of her eyes and running down her face. "I know, it's just...they're so horrible, Willow! To me, to you-"

"They took me in, didn't they?!" Willow said, her voice loud and firm. "They took me in when they could have put me out on the street. Sure they made me get a job, they have me make my own clothes and they won't send me to school but that's all my own doing, Winnie, because I refuse to find a husband. They just want the best for you, Win, they don't want you to end up like me."

"You're not half bad," Winnie said, laughing through tears.

"I'm going to be an old maid, Winnie, that's pretty bad." Willow laughed, hooking arms with Winnie and continuing through the forest.

"I'm so thirsty," Winnie complained. Willow thought it was better to shut her up and not say anything back, than to complain right back at her. Suddenly, they stumbled into a clearing. There was a boy about Willow's age, his shirt half done up and his hair long and unruly.

"Now I'm thirsty, too." Willow mumbled, cracking a smile. Really though, he was too young for her. Not in age, but he was innocent, you could tell. He didn't know how the world worked, how people fell and people hurt. Surely he wasn't a man of high society, but put them in a courthouse and they'd vote for the same laws, push for the same segregation and the same homeostasis that cursed the country. He was just a boy, and Willow needed a man.

He sure was fun to look at, though, and maybe he'd be good for Winnie.

"How...how long have you been standing there?" The boy asked suddenly, looking up at the two girls. Willow stood in front of Winnie a bit, as if trying to defend her.

"Not long at all," Winnie said bravely, stepping forward. "I was only walking past, and I..."

'oh great,' Willow thought. 'She likes him, now he'll never leave.'

"Well you shouldn't be in these parts of the woods, it's best you turn around and go home. Well, go on now, get!" He shook his hand, and Winnie looked at him with dismay.

"Excuse me, but she owns these woods." Willow said, placing a hand gently on Winnie's arm.

"You own these woods?" The boy said, his mouth agape. "What's your name?"

"Winifred," Winnie said, and Willow felt the urge to hit her. When you come across a stranger in the woods, no matter how cute, you don't give him your name. "Winifred Foster."

"I'm Willow Foster, her cousin." Willow said with a sigh.

"Fosters? Well I'll be. Well, Winnie Foster, like I was saying, you need to turn around and go home now. It's getting dark."

"It just so happens that I was on my way home," Winnie said, curiosity and disdain in her voice. "Before you made your rude suggestion, and I would happily be on my way...if only I knew which way that was."

"In other words, you're lost?"

"Not exactly," Willow cut in, sure she could find her way back without the help of this pompous little boy.

"I'll point you home," He smiled at Winnie.

"I'd be much obliged. But I want a drink first." Winnie started to move towards the spring, and the boy blocked it.

"No! You don't want that water, uh, it's poisoned."

"I just saw you drink from it!" Winnie whined. The girl was fifteen, but sometimes her childish side still came out stronger than her rationality did.

"Winnie," Willow sighed; if the boy didn't want her to drink the water, then leave it be! It's not like they were dying of dehydration or something.

"Well, now I'm feeling sick."

"Please," Winnie said. "I'm dry as dust."

"I said leave it alone!"

Winnie defied him once more, walking towards him, and he grabbed her firmly.

"Hey!" Willow exclaimed. "Her father will have you arrested."

She pulled Winnie from his arms.

"You're not going to go and tell him are you?" The boy asked, grabbing Winnie and pulling her away from Willow.

Willow turned, eager to get her cousin back from the boy, but she was grabbed around the waist by a man on a horse.

"Miles!" The boy exclaimed, his childhood coming out just as quickly as Winnie's did. "I had it under control."

"No, you didn't Jess." Miles said.

"You can't do this, she's a Foster!"

"You know what Tuck said, no exceptions." Miles trotted off, Willow in front of him, being held tight by his arms and the steady beating of the horse. Behind her, she could hear the boy running, pulling Winnie behind him, yelling no over and over again.

When Willow imagined being kidnapped, this was not how it played out.


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter has a major plot twist that goes off book entirely, just as a heads up. xx. **

* * *

The horse finally stopped at a small house by a lake, and the man threw me to the ground. I finally got a good look at him, at his mop of brown hair and the beginnings of a beard. He had to be in his mid-twenties, and he had made it obvious he was perfectly capable of handling himself.

"Please!" I shouted. "Winnie!"

"You keep your mouth shut." He ordered, kneeling down to address me.

"Where is my cousin!" I yelled at him, standing up. He picked me up the second I tried to defy him, pushing me right back down to the ground.

"Miles!" A woman exclaimed, coming out of the house. "What is the meaning of this? Are you alright dear?"

"I found her and another girl with Jesse in the woods, at the spring." Miles said, tying up his horse and walking towards the lake.

"Oh, Lordy." The woman pulled out a music box, playing it. It calmed me down a bit, but I was still anxious about Winnie. She was so young, and that boy did give me a funny feeling; I hoped she was alright. "Where's the other one?"

"With Jesse, she's coming." Miles said.

"Please, just tell me she's alright!" I begged, pleading with the woman, who seemed to be a lot softer than the man, Miles.

"Miles, go find Angus, I'll watch her."

"Don't be letting her go now, Ma." Miles said before riding off, glancing once more at me.

"Please, do whatever you want with me. Just tell me Winnie's alright."

"Oh god," The woman said, looking like she was about to pass out. "I'm sorry dear, my name is Mae Tuck, and we're not going to hurt you, I swear. We're not kidnappers, I swear, we're just...it's complicated, alright."

"What are you then, criminals or something?"

"Angus will explain," Mae said. "What's your name, dear? And who is Winnie?"

"I'm Willow," I said slowly. "Willow Foster. Winnie is my cousin, she was with the other boy, a ways back."

"She's younger than you," Mae assumed.

"I feel responsible. Please don't let them hurt her."

"No one here means you harm, dear." Mae said, not making eye contact. She glanced at the lake, playing with her music box. "Miles, my eldest, he's just...rough around the edges."

There was a scream in the distance as Jesse emerged from the woods, Winnie being yanked along behind him.

"Winnie!" I yelled, hoping up from my place on the ground and going to embrace her. After a moment, I pulled her behind me, looking at Jesse and Mae.

"What do you want?" Winnie asked, her voice small and scared.

"We mean no harm." Mae exclaimed.

"Angus will know what to do." Jesse said.

"You know, you all keep saying that." I laughed, growing angry and hysterical.

"When can we go home?" Winnie said, tired of her adventure already.

"When Angus gets here." Jesse said.

"Maybe." Mae added, walking into the house. "Well, you might as well join me. Make yourselves at home, maybe help with some dinner, until Miles and Angus return."

I squeezed Winnie's hand, pulling her with me into the house. Jesse followed close behind, staring at Winnie.

Ew, he was actually into her? She was fifteen, just a child!

For the first time in many years, i actually surveyed my cousin. She had grown taller, that was for sure, and her hair was loose now, framing her face wonderfully. Her figure was coming in, and the corset sure did help. Maybe she wasn't a child anymore after all. She still acted like one, though, still clung to me like a chick clung to the hen.

'You're the only person that has ever shown me affection,' she told me one visit, when she was ten and I was twelve. I guess it was true, I had never seen her mother hug her, and couldn't imagine the cold Mrs. Foster showing any physical love towards the child. It wasn't that Winnie wasn't loved, because she very much was, it was just that the people around her didn't know how to show it.

Dinner was chicken and peas, things Mae Tuck had grown herself. She had even sent Winnie and Jesse out to pick the pea pods, taking the moment to talk to me.

"I'm sorry I'm such a mess, Dear, it's just that I never imagined this would really happen." Mae said, placing a hand on my arm, more to comfort herself than me.

"I'm sorry I was so rude. But it's behind us now." I smiled at her. "Your son is taking a liking to Winnie."

"I've noticed." She said, peeking out the door at them, Jesse was instructing her on which pods were ripe and which ones were not. "Miles seems to be extra kind around you as well."

"Mrs. Tuck,"

"Mae, please."

"Mae, I don't mean to be rude but Miles pulled me roughly onto a horse, pushed me on the ground, and practically kidnapped Winnie and me. In my book, that's not how you show affection."

"Traditionally, no." Mae smiled. "But Miles isn't exactly traditional, you see. He's been through a lot-I'll let him tell you that, if he wishes-and he's testing you."

"Testing me for what?"

"To see when you'll break." Mae put a hand on my shoulder again, this time in a motherly way. "So far, you're doing great."

Laughter was carried through the house as Jesse and Winnie reentered the house, their hands filled with pea pods.

"These look so good," I applauded them. Jesse was still looking at Winnie like she was the sun, and she was still oblivious.

At that moment, Angus Tuck came running through the door, Miles following behind him.

His eyes searched the room desperately, then landed on me. I blushed without meaning to, and focused my attention on Angus instead.

The room went quiet, then Winnie spoke up.

"Hello," She said in her little mouse voice.

"A Foster, I'll be damned."

"Angus," Mae said, suddenly nervous again. "This here is Winnie, and Willow."

"Sisters?" Angus asked.

"Cousins," I said quickly, looking him in the eye. I could tell he respected that.

"Well, welcome." Angus said.

"We have to tell them!" Jesse blurted out, causing everyone to look at him.

"And what good would that do us, huh? They'd just tell." Miles said angrily.

Yelling ensued, and I took Winnie's hand again.

"Stop it, all of you!" I said, looking only at Winnie as I spoke. She was frightened-hell, I was frightened.

"We have to tell her," Jesse said, quieter this time. "She drank, Winnie drank. I tried to stop her, but it was too late."


	3. Chapter 3

"What's going on!" I exclaimed, standing up. "What's wrong with that spring?"

"There's nothing wrong with it, Willow. Wherever did you get that idea?" Mae said nervously before excusing herself to go take a walk.

"I'm not stupid," I said, looking at the rest of them pleadingly. Angus excused himself as well, to go be with his wife. "Please,"

It was Jesse who dissolved, whose hardness left him as he took pity on me.

"You can't tell her," Miles said, grabbing his brother's arm. "It'll be like normal, there'll be years before anyone figures it out!"

"She's just a kid," Jesse said. "She deserves to know what's happening to her!"

"You're just a kid, Jesse! And you'll be a stupid one, too, if you make this mistake. We can't trust her."

"We don't have a choice." Jesse broke away from his brother, taking Winnie's hand and leading her outside to talk.

"Miles, please tell me how to help her." I begged him, placing a hand gently on his shoulder

"What's your name again, girl?"

"Willow," i told him.

"Fitting," He laughed. "Well, I guess you ought to know then too, since we're telling everybody now. The spring, it does stuff to us. We stop, Willow, we stop aging."

"You're immortal?" I laughed, not believing him. "You think, because you drink from a certain spring, that you're immortal?"

"Everybody drank, everybody except for the cat, then things started happening. Jesse fell from a tree, some twenty feet up, and he didn't die, not a scratch on him. A group of hunters mistook Mae's horse for a deer-there were bullet holes, but he still stood, right as rain. The cat died, but not us. We didn't die, and we won't die."

I stared at him intently, wondering how all this could be, when the sound of laughter came in on the wind.

"She's taking this awfully well," Miles mumbled.

"So Winnie's...oh god, her parents are going to shoot me. We can't go back, not now, they'll-"

"Yes! That's it, exactly what I'm trying to say. She can't go back, Willow, because they'll see it, they'll know somethings wrong with her and we'll be found out, all of us." Miles said, taking my hand. I saw the anger in his eyes, the urgency as he thought back to another time.

"I feel sick," I said slowly, running out of the cabin just as Winnie came in.

"I told her," I heard Jesse say as I left. "I told her about the water really being piss."

I stopped in my tracks and vomited over the side of the porch.

Piss, that's what he came up with? If he really didn't feel like dropping the immorality bomb he could have come up with something even the slightest bit normal, like e coli or the possibility of it being poisonous. Piss, really? Winnie's supposed to believe that you all drink your own urine.

"I told her the truth, Miles," Jesse said, trying to egg his brother on. "That we drink it, you know, cause it helps our immune system."

"I'm disgusted," Winnie admitted. "But no harm done, I guess, right?"

"Right..." Miles said, obviously put off. "Willow, do you want to come in here? Willow knows too, Winnie."

I entered the room.

"It's definitely gross," I said, playing it off. "C'mon, Winnie, how about we clean up dinner while the boys find their parents, alright?"

The boys nodded, walking off quickly.

"That's their big secret? I never would have guessed, it tasted just like normal water!"

"I bet it did," I said quietly. "Oh, I threw up on their porch! I better clean that before they get back," I lied, running outside to catch up with the boys.

"Hello?" Jesse said, alarmed.

"It's just Willow," Miles shrugged.

"What were you thinking, you didn't tell her?" I said, hitting him on the shoulder.

"Hey! Winnie wasn't ready." Jesse said. "Wait, Miles, you told her?"

"Well, ready or not, she's coming Jesse! She can't go home now, do you know that? She's going to wonder why we're keeping her here."

"Jesse's got a little crush on your baby cousin," Miles said. "He was afraid if he told her that she'd run off."

"And lying to her is going to make it so much better?"

"I couldn't tell her, she's so little and innocent and trusting, really really trusting."

"She's going to be that way forever!" I exclaimed. "You better get used to it."

"Where does she think you are, anyways?" Miles asked. "Did you tell her you were going to meet us?"

"Unlike some, i'm not totally dumb. I told her I had to clean up vomit on the porch and ran off." I shrugged.

"See, you lie too!"

"She wouldn't have to lie if it wasn't for you!" Miles yelled; then he sighed and turned to me. "Look Willow, you better turn back, she'll be expecting you soon. We'll see what Mae and Tuck want to do."

Jesse ran ahead, searching for his parents, and I hung back with Miles.

"I'm scared for her," i admitted.

"Willow, are you...are you going to drink the water too?" Miles said, and I saw that look of memory in his eyes again-he was looking at me like I was someone else.

"No," I said quietly. "I don't want to be like this forever, not if I have a choice."

"You're a smart girl, Willow, that's what Tuck would say." Miles said, looking off towards the lake.

"What do you say?" I said, looking up at him.

Instead of answering me, he walked off. I wasted a moment staring at his back before turning around myself and heading back to the house.


	4. Chapter 4

Winnie and I tucked ourselves into cots by the couches that night. There was only one, so we had to share. We didn't mind, however, as we'd been sleeping together for a long time. Some nights, Winnie would get scared, and come running to my bed. Nightmares and fights, she'd come to me. Never thunderstorms, though, Winnie loved those. Every night, Winnie would make the same request she was making tonight as she cuddled up close to me, our noses touching.

"Willow, sing the song."

"It's an ugly song, Win." I sighed. "I don't know why you like it so much."

"It's beautiful when you sing it; please, Will." She said, and I could tell by her voice that she was homesick.

_"She went upstairs to make her bed_  
_And not a word to her mother said_  
_Her mother, she went upstairs too said_  
_'Daughter, oh daughter, what's troubling you?'_

_Oh mother, I cannot tell_  
_That railroad boy that I love so well_  
_He courted me, my life away_  
_And now at home will no longer stay_

_There's a place in London town_  
_Where the railroad boy goes and sits down_  
_Takes a strange girl on his knee_  
_Says things to her he won't say to me_

_Her father, he came home from work, said_  
_'Where's my daughter, what's troubling her?'_  
_He went upstairs to give her hope_  
_Found her hanging by a rope_

_He took his knife, cut her down_  
_And on her bosom these words were found_  
_Oh dig my grave both wide and deep, place_  
_A marble stone at my head and feet_

_And on my breast place a white snow dove_  
_Won't you tell the world that I died for love_  
_To tell the world I died of love_  
_Tell the world that I died for love_  
_Wont you tell the world that I died for love." _

Winnie was out before the song was finished, but I couldn't sleep. All I could think about was Winnie's adoration for the song, a song that spoke about dying for love. How ironic, then, was it that she would never die, if what the Tucks said was true? Then again, even if it wasn't, I wasn't planning on testing it anytime soon. I rolled over in my sleep, not wanting to look at her. Her face would forever haunt me, I had gotten her into this.

Who had encouraged her to play with the boys at the market, who walked around the house speaking of things girls shouldn't know about? If I hadn't come, Winnie would still be as innocent as ever, and boarding school would still be a lifeless threat. I had dug her grave by coming to Treegap.

* * *

I woke up the next morning to an empty bed, and, in a rage, jumped up.

"Miles!" I said in a whisper scream, hoisting myself up to the loft. "Where's my cousin?!"

"How the hell would I know, Willow." He groaned, rolling over.

"Is Jesse gone too? I bet they're together."

"I want to talk to you, then, Willow." Miles said, sitting up quietly. "Get dressed, I'll meet you down there."

With a moan, I worked my way down the ladder, dressing quickly and forgetting the corset entirely. I never wore the thing, not unless Mrs. Foster forced me into it.

"If your brother gets my cousin pregnant, I swear!"

"She's fifteen, Willow!" Miles said, his mouth agape as they left the house.

"You say that like it's so young! She'll be fifteen forever Miles, she'll never die."

"Speaking of death, I heard you singing last night."

"I didn't mean to disturb anyone."

"It was beautiful, Willow. What was it?"

"The Railroad Boy, my mother used to sing it to me. I taught it to Winnie when I first came here, and she's taken a liking to it. I don't know why, it's such a sad song..."

"My wife used to sing it." Miles said. "To our daughter, Anna."

"That's...awful." I laughed.

"You're absolutely right!" Miles grinned at me, laughing uncontrollably. "It's a nice tune, but such ugly words. It ends in death, for Christ's sake!"

"Everything ends with death." I said somberly, before remembering where I was and what was going on around me.

"Not everything," He said bitterly. "I have yet to meet that fate."

"And when you do, will it be a relief?" I said intently, watching the ground not because I was insecure, but because I wasn't sure where I was walking. I let Miles walk ahead of me, leading the way. He didn't look back at me when I spoke, and I was alright with that.

"I've seen good men die, Willow, I've seen people I love walk out of my life permanently. Death will be a great relief."

"Winnie will return to Treegap in her time, I'm sure, but I don't think I will." I smiled, looking at everything that surrounded me.

"Why do you say that?"

"Winnie is a girl, Miles. She gets her wants and her needs and her wishes confused. She thinks all love ends in death-Romeo and Juliet, Othello, The Illiad-but her's may not. Death is a fear she has overcome, a fear that binds everyone to ignorance. When she discovers what the water did to her, she'll be thrilled-scared, but thrilled. When, and if, she chooses to leave you, I'm sure it'll be for Treegap. And I can tell you right now I won't be beside her. Treegap is her home, not mine."

"Where is your home, then, Willow?"

"My home was New York City, but I'm on the market for a new one."

"Why not Treegap?"

"Too tiny," I smiled at him. "I want somewhere where the air is black with smoke and the buildings block out the sun."

"You look like a big city girl,"

"I'm glad."


	5. Chapter 5

Miles and I walked into town. He got many dirty looks there, passing through with an improper girl in an improper skirt, and apparently many knew him. We did not go to Treegap, but to Bridal, the town on the other side of the woods. Treegap, he said, would only bring trouble.

We stopped at a bakery, and the man gave us yesterday's bread for free, and we had that for breakfast. We ate it on the curb outside of the shop, my white dress getting dusty and turning brown. That was alright, though, Miles assured me Mae would help me wash it tonight.

Afterwards, when it started to get dark, and we realized we had spent the whole day in Bridal, we made the trek back to the Tucks' home for dinner.

"I knew it! You're, you're bank robbers, or grifters, or something!" We heard Winnie say, and followed the sound of her voice, a mischievous smile on our faces.

Miles and I hid behind a tree, eager to witness whatever exchange of love was about to occur.

"You're the first human I've met that I wanted to know the truth." Jesse said, and Miles and I went silent. He was going to tell her, wasn't he?

"Jesse Tuck, you're the first boy I've ever wanted to..." They kissed, and I held my breath. Winnie's first kiss, and I had witnessed it. I hoped it was good for her, that Jesse Tuck was good for her. Well, he better be, or I'd kick his ass. "To do that to."

"Winnie, listen. Remember the giant oak tree at the center of the wood where we met? The little spring bubbling up you saw me drink from? You remember when I told you I was one hundred and seventeen years old? Well...it's the honest truth. I'm going to live forever, I'm never going to change. The same with Miles and Tuck and Mae. Something happened to us. As far as I know, I'm...I'm going to be seventeen until the end of the world. It's the spring, Winnie. The water, something's wrong with it. It stops you right where you are." Jesse swallowed hard. "You're like us, too Winnie. You drank from it, the day you met me."

"Don't you wish he'd told you that, before he kissed you?" Miles said, emerging from the shadows. I followed his lead, and tried to suppress a smile as Jesse moved to guard Winnie defensively. Oh yes, they'd be a good match, the almost-man and the almost-child.

"Willow," She said my name in a child's voice, like she always did when she didn't know what to do. "You knew."

"Only after you drank it." I sighed, watching as Jesse put an arm around her. Still, she leaned into his touch. "Do you believe it, Winnie?"

"Do you think I'd lie to you?" Jesse said, cupping her face. "Think about it, Winnie. We could go anywhere, see everything! The Eiffle Tower, just like we talked about! The Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island! We could discover that continent I talked about together."

"It's not going to be all sugar and no bitter, Win." I told her, raising my voice to be heard over Jesse's. "You're a Foster, they have responsibilities. You can't just run from Treegap, the Tucks will never be safe as long as they keep you."

"You're an adult, Winnie, make your own decisions." Jesse said, glaring at me. I obviously wasn't pleading his case.

"Willow," Winnie said quietly. "Will you sing another song? I need to sleep."

"Here?" Miles said, incredulously.

"Yes," Winnie said as I sat down, watching as she laid her head on my lap, her hand still entertwined with Jesse's.

_"I'll twine 'mid the ringlets_  
_Of my raven black hair,_  
_The lilies so pale_  
_And the roses so fair,_  
_The myrtle so bright_  
_With an emerald hue,_  
_And the pale aronatus_  
_With eyes of bright blue._

_I'll sing, and I'll dance,_  
_My laugh shall be gay,_  
_I'll cease this wild weeping_  
_Drive sorrow away,_  
_Tho' my heart is now breaking,_  
_He never shall know,_  
_That his name made me tremble_  
_And my pale cheeks to glow._

_I'll think of him never_  
_I'll be wildly gay,_  
_I'll charm ev'ry heart_  
_And the crowd I will sway,_  
_I'll live yet to see him_  
_Regret the dark hour_  
_When he won, then neglected,_  
_The frail wildwood flower._

_He told me he loved me,_  
_And promis'd to love,_  
_Through ill and misfortune,_  
_All others above,_  
_Another has won him,_  
_Ah! misery to tell;_  
_He left me in silence_  
_No word of farewell!_

_He taught me to love him,_  
_He call'd me his flower_  
_That blossom'd for him_  
_All the brighter each hour;_  
_But I woke from my dreaming,_  
_My idol was clay;_  
_My visions of love_  
_Have all faded away."_


	6. Chapter 6

The next day I would return to Treegap, to the Fosters, and take my leave formally and respectfully, as a member of society.

Winnie had made her decision and would stay with the Tucks for as long as she could; and someone needed to go back and clean up the mess she'd left. That person, of course, could be none other than me. While I returned to Treegap, the Tucks were packing to leave their home.

Her decision was made last night, by the fire with her head in my lap and her hand in Jesse's. The girl was entirely lost to me now, having found something newer and more exciting in the form of an immortal teenage boy. I had Winnie help me with the corset that I hadn't worn in so long, and her hands felt foreign to me as they laced the strings. She nodded when she had finished and went off with Jesse, who had been waiting in a corner.

"They're inseparable, those two." Miles said, nodding towards the couple. "It makes me nervous."

"It's puppy love, Miles, they're young. Soon enough they'll grow out of it." Miles snickered at me, and I realized the stupidity of what I had said. "Don't worry, they'll be fine. They have you watching out for them, and Mae and Angus too."

"I don't like that," He said, nodding towards my corset.

"Neither do I," I laughed. "But it's a staple of society and I plan on looking presentable when I walk back into Treegap. I won't be staying there long, anyways."

"What do you mean?" Miles said.

"You remember how I told you, the first night I came here, that Winnie and I are cousins? Winnie's the only reason I stayed with the Fosters for as long as I did, without her they'll be unbearable. I only plan on staying long enough to make sure you all get out alright, and then I'm gone." I smiled at them.

Miles only looked at me as if he couldn't hear words, couldn't formulate what they meant. After a moment, he lunged at me, wrapping his hand around the back of my neck and lacing an arm around my waist to steady me as he pressed his lips against mine. His tongue darted in and out like a dagger, a sharp, beautiful dagger, and I moaned in response. Turning me over, Miles made quick work of the corset Winnie had painstakingly laced; he threw it across the room without any regard to her handiwork.

He flipped me around and locked out lips once more, guiding my hands towards his belt.

When we were finished, we laid in bed next to each other, entangled in the sheets of the loft hoping no one would catch us.

"Come with us." He said quietly, out of breath.

"Excuse me?"

"Leave Treegap with us, with me and Jesse and Winnie."

"You know I can't do that, Miles, it would just put you all in more danger!"

"Winnie's putting us in danger, not you!" Miles urged. "And she's still permitted to come, isn't she? Stay with me, Willow, and we can make something of this. What is there for you out there now, now that you've met the most intriguing people you'll ever come to know? We're immortal, Willow, can't get much better than that."

"Believe me, you can." Willow scoffed, rising from the bed and dressing. She thought of offering the corset up to Miles, asking him to lace it for her, but she left it lying on the bedroom floor and dressed without it. It was Winnie's, anyways, and it was too small.

"You don't even have to drink from the spring, I swear by it. And we don't have to leave with my family, we can go on our own if that's what you want."

"What do you want?" Willow asked. "Do you want me to risk all of your lives over a silly evening of romance? This never should have happened, Miles. I have to go."

Willow grabbed her already-packed belongings, leaving the rest of her things behind, and hurried from the house without a goodbye. She ran towards what she thought was Treegap, her long legs making the strides easy. She knew the woods better this time around, knew how to avoid branches and other animals. Miles had taught her that, just like Jesse had taught Winnie.

Still, with all of this practice, she found herself lost.

Leaning against a tree, she spotted a small pond nearby. She leaned down and took a sip, before realizing her mistake and shooting back up. She spit the remaining water out, but it was still too late. The rain had made the spring grow, and it was now the size of a tiny pond.

Willow ran all the way back to the Foster's, fueled by anger and resent. She'd done it now, she really had.


	7. Chapter 7

Traveling back to treegap was easier than I thought. The questions that were asked were about Winnie, not me, and her mother was surprisingly heartbroken to see her go.

Ms. Foster curled up beside me on the couch, burying her head in my lap like I was her Aunt and not the other way around. Mr. Foster put a hand on my shoulder.

"Willow, may I see you in my office?" He asked and his wife gave him a look. "When you're finished with my wife, of course."

I nodded and eventually Ms. Foster got up, exiting the room. I made my way through the pocket doors to my uncle's office.

"Willow, I know my daughter. Winnie wouldn't just run off on her own, not like this." He sighed, and I took a deep breath. "Was it a boy, maybe? Or did she find some other family, some people who treat her better than us? You must help us, Willow. We love our daughter, we want what's best for her, we just...we have a hard way of showing it, don't you see?"

"Mr. Foster, I see more than you think."

"You've got to help us get her back."

"And," I continued. "If you love your daughter like you say you do, you let her stay where she is. She's taken care of there, she's loved, and whether or not you want to believe it, she's happy."

"I refuse to believe it, Willow!" He slammed his hands down on the desk and I had to keep my body from flinching. "Who are you to tell me my daughter is happy, is taken care of?"

"You have to let her go sometime!" I yelled back at him. "And it's now, rather than later. Please, I beg of you, leave her be."

I exited the room then, before he could recoil, and went to the bedroom I shared with Winnie.

It was empty without her. The two of us shared everything, even the same bed. As i laid down in it, I regretted drinking from the spring. Seventeen was too young to be condemned to a life of solitude-a life it looked like I would be leading for a while now. Maybe I would find Miles one day and we could pick up where we left off, but the world was a big place and it was unlikely that he would ever return to Treegap.

Besides, I wasn't the kind of girl who would spend my life waiting.

If things went according to plan they would leave tonight and I would leave the next day, maybe go back to New York.

I fell asleep like that, with visions of the city in my head, and woke up the next morning with screams ringing in my ears.


	8. Chapter 8

"Willow! Oh Willow, you've got to help me!"

I groaned, rolling over and finding another body in bed with me.

"Winnie?" I said, waking up. "What's wrong dear?"

"Sing," She said quietly, breathing fast. "Sing the railroad song first."

And so I sang the sad, quiet song about the girl whose lover left her, the girl whose lover caused her to die, and then Winnie looked up at me, ready to speak.

"Mother and Father hired a man to come after me, a man in a yellow suit. He...he knew about the spring, Will, and he wanted me. He was trying to hurt me, and Mae, well you know how she gets, she hit him with the gun. Didn't even shoot at him, just got him on the back of the head, and he's dead. Mae killed a man, for me."

"Oh god," I muttered. "Did they get out? Why are you still here, Win?"

"They sent her to jail. I don't know what they'll do with her there." Winnie cried into me until she fell asleep, and i laid her gently on the bed.

"What did you do?" I shouted, coming down the stairs quickly, still in my clothes from yesterday.

"Excuse me?" Mr. Foster said, looking up from his desk. "What are you talking about, young lady?"

"You. Were you even listening to what I told you yesterday? Your daughter, she was happy there. She loved those people she was with, she fit in. I'd never heard Winnie laugh like she did when she was with them, never seen her live like that!"

"Willow, Winnie's just a girl. She doesn't understand the error of her ways. That woman, the matriarch of that family, is a murderer!"

"Because you made her one! Because you allowed a man to threaten them on their way out of Treegap, because you allowed him to dig up dark family secrets. He came after Winnie, she said he tried to hurt her, did you know that? Mae was defending her family."

"Winnie is part of our family."

"You've robbed her of her family, Uncle." I told him simply. "I don't know how you can't see that."

"That's it." Mr. Foster said, grabbing me by my forearm. "I've had about enough of you and your big city ideas. You're messing with Winnie's head."

"Get off!" i shouted, but he wouldn't let me go. He dragged me down into the basement, throwing me down the stairs carelessly with all the force in his body.

"I hope you rot down there." He said, his voice hard and cruel. He slammed the door and I heard the deadbolt go through.

"Oh God," I said quietly, laughing. "What have I gotten myself into?"

I was going to perish here, in this basement. There'd be no release, because I'd never die.


	9. Chapter 9

I couldn't sleep, and i regretted sleeping so much last night. I wouldn't have slept at all if I'd known that I'd be locked in the cellar, no food and no water, with nothing to do but sleep.

Instead I sang. I sang every song I knew from Oh Susanna to Omie Wise to The Railroad Boy, which I sang over and over again, thinking of Winnie. In my mind I was begging her to run away again, whether she met up with Jesse and the Tucks or not, to get out of here before her parents dismissed her like they dismissed me.

Of course I hoped the Tucks were alright too. Mae was in jail but that was the most they could do to her, and as for Angus and the boys I didn't have a clue. Hopefully Miles had moved on by now, gotten out of town. Angus wouldn't leave Treegap without his wife, and as for Jesse, well I'm guessing he wouldn't leave without Winnie.

Part of me, the tiniest part, was hoping that Miles wouldn't leave without me either. But he was smarter than Jesse and Angus combined and so I knew that he would do the right thing, and the right thing was to go. He'd left another family before, he'd told me that one night while Winnie and Jesse slept above us, when there was no more room in the loft for me.

His wife had left him, really, and taken their babies with them. He'd tracked them down later, and they were all already gone. He cried into my collarbone in bed and I'd let him, my body soaking wet with sweat and tears.

I sang The Railroad Boy one more time and leaned my head against the stairs leading to the cellar door. The summer heat was cooler down here, but the nicest spot was right on the wooden steps. I'd already tried the door, and it had been locked from the outside as well.

Suddenly, the door above me started to groan. I thought at first it was moving with the heat, but then it started to move as well.

"Winnie?" I called out. "Mr. foster? Mrs. Foster?"

"Oh, Willow!" Winnie said, throwing the cellar doors out of her way and running down to hug me. "I'm so sorry."

Her face was streaked with tears.

"None of this was your fault," I told her, rocking her gently. "None of it. Not Mae being in jail, not your dad locking me down here. You had nothing to do with it, Win, okay?"

"I had everything to do with it," She said, tears staining my white dress.

"Actually, she did." A voice said, and my heart lifted up from my stomach. Miles.

Winnie laughed then and I managed to crack a smile.

"Get out of the cellar, Will." Miles said, offering me a hand. "We need your help."

"Can somebody fill me in on what's going on?" I asked, watching as Jesse emerged from the trees behind the house. Winnie ran over to him, obviously having not seen him for a good day or two, and they embraced, kissing.

Miles and I looked away, glancing at each other awkwardly. We had definitely left off on bad terms.

"Mae is in jail," Miles explained.

"For killing the guy that came after Win, I got that part."

"What about Angus is in jail?"

"No, that's new news."

"He went after the cops when they tried to take Mae away." He said silently, looking at the ground. I searched for his eyes.

"And you didn't?"

"No," He said, blushing. "There was a moment when...when Jesse had stopped holding Winnie. He was going to go after the cop too. I held him back."

I looked over at Winnie and Jesse, having their own little conversation.

"Thank you," I told him gently. "Winnie wouldn't be able to handle it if Jesse was in there too."

He grunted, nodding.

"They go to the gallows tomorrow." He added. "And when they're hung, in front of everyone-"

"They won't die," I sucked in a breath. "And your secret will come out."

"Which is why we need your help, you and Winnie. We need to get them out, tonight."

I nodded and he turned away from me, walking towards Winnie and Jesse, probably to form a plan. I grabbed his forearm tightly.

"And then," I grabbed his chin, forcing him to look me in the eyes. "You and your family need to leave Treegap, until it's safe."

"I know," he nodded. "It's just so damn hard."

I laughed, thinking about how easy it would be for me to leave here. But then again, this hadn't been my home for over 100 years.

"What do you love about this place so much?"

"You," He said, leaning down and kissing me.


	10. Chapter 10

"Help! Somebody help!" I screamed, dragging Winnie into the police station.

"what's the problem?" The sheriff asked.

"The men," I gasped, pretending to be out of breath. "The men who had Winnie, they're coming back. They're here!"

"Please," Winnie said, turning on all her childhood innocence. "They're coming, you have to help me. Don't let them take me again."

The sheriff nodded, loading a gun and walking outside.

"How much time do we have?" Winnie asked, her pretty blue eyes wide with fear and anticipation.

"Not long." I tossed her the keys to the cells. "Go get them out, I'll watch for the boys."

She nodded and left, I went to stand in the window, watching the cop shoot at Jesse and Miles. Even though I knew it couldn't hurt them, my heart still stopped every time they were hit. Hell, it barely slowed them down anymore, but i was still waiting for the power of the spring to fall through.

It wasn't long before, almost without realizing it, I had made my way outside. I was standing on the stairs of the jail, watching the boys duel with wide eyes. Miles caught sight of me first, a bullet hit him and he staggered backwards, probably more out of shock of seeing me than anything else. Still, my heart caught in my throat and I was unable to breathe for a moment.

"Willow," Jesse yelled. "Go back inside."

"Idiot," i heard Miles mumble. "Wait with Winnie, and we'll take you both."

The sheriff ran off, frightened by Jesse and Miles inexplainable behavior and immortality.

Jesse ran right past me, inside to Winnie and his parents, and Miles ran over, grabbing me.

"I'm sorry," I blurted out. "I didn't mean to come out, it's just I kept seeing you get shot, over and over again, and I knew it couldn't hurt but-"

"I know," He muttered, pulling me close. "Now imagine how much it hurts me, knowing that I could lose you with one wrong move."

"Miles," I laughed, kissing him lightly. "I drank. I drank from the spring."

"When?" He said breathlessly.

"When I was returning to Treegap. I thought...well I thought I would wait for you, maybe one day you'd return to me. And I wanted to see Winnie again too. I couldn't die, not when I knew I'd be missed so much." I smiled and he kissed me again, harder this time. His parents and Jesse came out, and he still didn't pull away.

"Willow!" Winnie exclaimed, grabbing my wrists happily and pulling me down the stairs, away from Miles. "Come with us."

"I can't, you know that."

"There's nothing for you here! Everything-adventure, Miles, New York, and me-it's all out there. You have to come with us, Will, if for nothing more than to see the city again."

"Someone has to stay in Treegap." I said quietly. "Someone has to make sure things blow over nicely."

"That's such a boring job," Miles said, coming up and hugging me from behind, kissing my neck. "Wouldn't you rather see the world?"

"I will," I told them. "Someday, I promise. Come back and see me, in five years or ten. I'll be the same."

I winked at them then, Angus and Mae laughed at me.

"Come on then," Jesse said, riding the horse and buggy around the corner. "Let's get out of here before dawn."

They piled onto the buggy, Angus driving and Mae beside him, Winnie and Jesse in the back.

"Miles," I said quietly, adjusting his collar and avoiding his eyes. "I'm going to miss you."

"I'll be right here." He said, nodding towards the forest. "Whenever you need me, go to the spring. That place is a part of all of us, we belong to it as much as it belongs to us. There, you will never be alone."

"Five years isn't so long," I mumbled.

"Not when you have forever." he kissed me again, rushing off towards the buggy.

"Willow Foster!" Winnie called after me. "I will love you until the day I die!"

I waved them off then, waited until their buggy was out of sight, and then I returned to the Foster home and proceeded to re-lock myself into the basement.

* * *

**A/N-Sorry, that last quote is one of my all time favorites. in the movie it's conveyed with such emotion and it's an amazing scene, I couldn't bear to leave it out of my story. Of course, it no longer made sense for Jesse to say it and it was definitely too soft for Miles, so I gave it to Winnie. Xx. **


	11. Chapter 11

It wasn't particularly pleasant to spend the following years of my life taking the blame for Winnie's leaving, but I knew in my heart she was happy and so I let it be.

Her father blamed me endlessly, but he died not even a year later from a heart attack. The entire family fortune went to Mrs. Foster, who didn't have a clue what to do with it without a daughter to shower gifts upon. She used it on facial creams and beauty treatments, anything to keep the wrinkles off her face. Sometimes I caught her dressing up in Winnie's old clothes, pretending to be her, and sometimes she asked me to be Winnie.

Mostly though, she just cried over her absence.

"Ms Willow, the body's prepared. The pallbearers are ready to take it down."

"Yes, of course. thank you." I nodded to Henry, the local mortician.

Mrs. Foster had died two days ago, the funeral was arranged and paid for; all her money went to me. She would be buried today in the family plot, and then I would be free.

I had yet to decide what I wanted to do. It had been seven years since the Tucks had left, and I hadn't heard from them since. I wasn't going to waste my immortality, however, on waiting around for snow in August. It was reasonable enough that they might never return to Treegap for reasons unknown to me. I would head south, to New York City, and see how it changed.

I was the only one in attendance at the funeral. The priest, uncomfortable, said a few hasty words and then departed. She was buried in the family plot out back, and instead of hiring someone to do it I donned my ugliest dress and buried her myself.

* * *

I had stopped at an inn halfway to New York City. I was tired and so was my horse; we both needed to get some sleep.

The inn was short staffed for the night and every room was filled, there was no one to show me to my room. I was handed a key and told to go find it on my own.

It was on the third level towards the end of a long hallway. I was walking down it, key in hand (I had no luggage, as I was planning to start fresh as soon as I got to the city) when I heard a familiar sound.

_"She went upstairs to make her bed_

_And not one word to her mother said._

_Her mother she went upstairs too_

_Saying, 'Daughter, oh daughter, what's troubling you?'"_

The voice paused for a moment and I leaned my head against the door, anxious to hear more. I hadn't sang that song since the night Winnie left.

Slowly, as the pause got longer, I picked up the next verse.

_"'Oh mother, oh mother, I cannot tell_

_That railroad boy that I love so well._

_He courted me my life away_

_And now at home will no longer stay.'"_

The door opened suddenly and I drew back, worried that I had been louder than I thought.

"I'm sorry," I said immediately. "It's just I used to sing that song to my baby cousin. It always calmed her down."

"I am not your _baby_ cousin!" A voice shrieked.

"Winnie?" I yelled, running into the room and hugging her. "Oh God, I thought I'd never see you again."

"Are you joshing me? I would've tracked you down." She smiled at me. "Mae has a beautiful voice, but no one can sing like you."

"She still can't sleep without it." Mae admitted. "You look beautiful, Willow."

"So do you, Mae." I smiled, hugging her as well.

"We were coming up to see you." Winnie said. "We saw Mother's obituary in the newspaper and figured it was time."

"I'm sorry, Win." I said quietly.

"It's over now, isn't it?"

"I buried her myself." I admitted.

"The boys," Mae interrupted. "They're in the other room. I'm sure one of them in particular would like to see you."

"Miles," I said excitedly. Winnie seemed even more excited then me, jumping out of bed in her nightdress and running across the hall.

"Miles! Miles get up!" She screamed, banging on the door.

"Shouldn't you be screamin' for Jesse?" Miles said, answering the door. His eyes were thick with sleep and his hair mused from the pillow.

"Hello," I said lightly.

"Willow," he breathed, running over to hug me. "It's been a long time."

"It has," I smiled, running my hands through his hair. "You haven't changed."

We all laughed then, the whole family coming into the hallway to watch our reunion.

"Uh you guys mind...?" He said, but they didn't budge. "Alright then. Willow, which one's your room, we have some catching up to do?"

**THE END **

* * *

**A/N- Thank you to everyone who read! I hope you enjoy this story, I really enjoyed writing it as Tuck Everlasting is one of my favorite stories and they have some really great characters to work with. xx. **


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